Vet visits

Today was Leloo's one year vet visit.  I had to post about this, because vet visits are always fun.  Today she was due for her rabies, distemper and heart worm test.  I was excited about the visit because I really wanted to ask the doctor if her strange eating habits are normal.  Most days she has a lack of interest in eating her food.  I read in a magazine it was normal for huskies to only eat when they are hungry, but I can never take information from just one source.  Leloo can go a whole day without eating food.  Treats are a whole other story.  Apparently this is very common with huskies.  Who knew!  I can't go more than a few hours without eating.

I've realized after several vet visits that the key to keeping her calm is to take her for a walk or if there is time take her to the park beforehand.  Since I didn't monitor the time, we went for a quick walk.  By walk I mean being dragged down the road, diving at every single mailbox and questionable mound in the road (aka roadkill). If you have joint issues or fear of losing a limb, HUSKIES are not for you!  Walk done we were on our way to the vet office.

Now another thing I've learned about vet visits is - try to make her pee before we go in the building.  I learned this lesson the hard way.  The last time we were at the vet, Leloo mistook the exam room as a lush green field!  TWICE!!! It was a mess and I was the one embarrassed.  I was desperate not to relive that happy memory, so I'm telling her to go potty and walking around the grass area outside the office.  Of course today she was too distracted by all the smells outside the building to pee.  We went in with compete hesitation.  Fortunately she didn't need to go, so all was well with that.  Although I was looking for the all the signs.  Stiff back legs and sniffing around.  Then there's a one second warning where she looks around to see if the all clear sign is up.  WHICH IS NEVER UP INDOORS!!!  Ahhh puppies.

The first thing the vet assistant did was "try" to weigh Leloo.  She has never been very good at just standing in one spot by command.  We're working on "stay", but it's a work in progress.  After a minute of the scale going up and down and telling her to sit 20 times, we all decided she weighs 47lbs.  Finally we went into the room and Leloo always has to sniff every single surface.  This really annoys my husband.  I just take it as normal behavior.  The vet assistant then took leloo out of the room to clip her nails and do the heart worm test.  Helpful hint: Always have someone else cut your husky's nails!!!  You will thank me later.   So back to my story.  While my husband and I were sitting there waiting for her to come back, we can hear Leloo screaming like a monkey.  You'd think they were torturing her.  She came back in the room with the "where's mom" look on her face.  It's super cute. 

Next step is waiting for the doctor to come in the room.  Surprisingly it wasn't a long wait.  Maybe 5 minutes.  The whole time my husband is commanding Leloo to jump up onto the exam table.  I kept saying I think it's too high, then sure enough she did it.  That kind of scared me.  I knew she could jump pretty high, but I didn't think 3 feet without a running start.  I'm now thinking a 4 foot fence really is too short (we're saving for a fence).  Once the doctor came in she was back on the floor.  She did well with the shots, just whimpered a little.  She didn't move with the help of the vet-in-training.  Our vet asked us if we had any questions and I got all excited.  This is where he told me she's perfectly normal.  Then he asked us if we were planning on kids!!!! Both me and my husband had bug eyes at this point.  Why is he asking us that??? I say well eventually, why?  All he wanted was for us to let him know, because he has advice to give us about dogs and kids in the same house.  Or something like that, I was still stunned that the vet asked us if we were having kids.

Finally the vet and the trainee were giving Leloo treats so we told her to sit and say "thank you".  She's not allowed any treats without doing something in return.  Leloo gladly sat and said in her husky voice "thank you".  I was so proud.  The vet and the trainee laughed and kept giving her treats to get her to do it again.  She'll do this until her voice is hoarse.  That I guarantee.  The doctor kept commenting on how nice she is and how she shouldn't like him cause he's the guy that gives the shots. Leloo loves everyone that lets her lick them.  That's just the husky way!

The vet ended the appointment telling us she perfectly healthy and told us well done on raising her.  This is the joy part I mentioned before...